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Switching Gears to Stay Ahead with the LED Scheme

04 Dec 2017

By Shukry Rashid

Some 5,200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and associations have been assisted through the Lean Enterprise Development (LED) Scheme. This was announced during the second LED Symposium on 17 November 2017 by Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo.

The LED Scheme was launched in October 2015 to help SMEs transform and grow in the new manpower-lean landscape. This will be done by improving processes and business models, and developing a stronger Singaporean core and higher quality workforce.

Multipliers such as NTUC U SME were appointed to raise awareness and enhance adoption of the scheme by helping businesses better understand the concept and put up high-quality proposals with desired outcomes.

U SME has assisted over 50 SMEs since the scheme was launched.

“Moving forward, we will assist all our SME partners to implement initiatives under respective Industry Transformation Maps to stay lean and competitive, and help working people in SMEs to upgrade,” said U SME Director Yeo Guat Kwang.

Enabling Businesses and Industries

Every industry seems to be improving the way they do things, and the school transport sector is no exception.

The work of bus drivers was manual for the longest time – fetching of students, doing the headcount and planning of routes. There were also those rare erratic and dangerous driver behaviours which resulted in high insurance premiums due to accidents involving school transportation. The sector also faced an increase in operational costs such as high maintenance and fuel consumption.

Since the Singapore School Transport Association (SSTA) adopted the School Bus Management System (SMBS), however, things have been better.

With the help of U SME, SSTA applied for a grant under the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme by SPRING Singapore.

SSTA, whose members represent 80 per cent of school transport operators in Singapore, adopted the SMBS with U SME’s assistance as an LED scheme multiplier.

The SBMS is a centralised dynamic bus routing system which includes an in-bus surveillance system with 3G video streaming, GPS, real-time video recording, smart student attendance tracking system and smart bus route planning system.

SSTA Executive Secretary Jeremy Ng said feedback from parents has been positive, and he foresees a 15 per cent reduction in both maintenance costs insurance premiums.

For more information on the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme, click here. Interested companies can approach NTUC U SME here.